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Time to turn the tide of the Brexit PR battle

Jayne Adye
July 30, 2021

Ever since the UK voted to Leave the EU, many within the mainstream media have continuously failed to recognise the ill-will and vindictiveness of the EU in negotiations – as well as their behaviour towards their own Member States. If the Government wants to succeed in its fight to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol – and in fact succeed in their negotiations with future trading partners all over the world, they must become better at arguing their case to the public, controlling the narrative and calling out the failures of others – argues Jayne Adye, Director of Get Britain Out.

Time and time again in the 5 years since we voted to Leave the EU in the 2016 Referendum, the UK has constantly been painted as the 'bad guy' in negotiations. This is simply because we would not cave in to the EU's diktats by surrendering our sovereignty across every aspect of our lives. A key problem has been the UK Government's refusal to properly engage with the media – as well as the public – to explain what was going on and the reasoning behind the actions they were taking.

On the other hand, the EU has continually released information about what they expected from us, claiming their arguments to be far more reasonable. Of course, they weren't, to anyone who paid attention, or looked into the detail.

However, instead of questioning the EU's proposals for the one-sided anti-democratic ideas they were, the Government kept quiet. In this vacuum of information, the ideas and motivations behind the vote to Leave the EU were crushed by an establishment main stream media which pursued a continuation of the 'Project Fear' narrative we experienced so often throughout during the 2016 Referendum campaign.

Thankfully the tables have begun to turn.

The Government seems to have finally started to take a different approach to talks, by announcing in parliament and in detail, their proposals on how to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol. This decision to release a full 'Command Paper' on the UK's intentions – as well as explaining the EU's own failings – has now given the UK the right to tear up the Protocol by triggering Article 16, and this has put the EU on the back foot, whilst also finally beginning to take back control of the narrative for the future.

We have already seen the UK's pressure pay off in one area, as a direct result of the UK's Northern Ireland Command Paper. The EU has 'paused' the ongoing case they brought to the European Court of Justice over the UK's failure to implement parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – as if they are doing us a favour! They are now fully aware if they try to continue with legal action, it would harm their international reputation. However, they have only indicated this is 'a pause' – as if the threat of the 'Sword of Damocles' still hangs over us. You can be certain, if the EU does not get its way, the legal threats will be resumed before you can suggest we are still supposedly 'friends and partners'.

This new and robust UK attitude is one our Government must push ahead with – in parallel with ensuring the public are aware of the EU's spiteful failures. This should enable the British public to see the EU as the power hungry, protectionist and vindictive organisation it is.

For example, the continuous refusal of the EU to cooperate with the UK over the Lugano Convention – which allows court rulings in civil and commercial disputes to be enforceable across borders. This Convention is not an EU creation and includes Iceland, Norway and Switzerland – all independent countries. However, despite the UK meeting all the required standards, the EU Commission has tried to block the UK's application to take part. This action is nothing to do with the integrity of the Convention and is simply another autonomous decision made by the EU, taken on a solely political basis.

Why are we hearing nothing from our Government questioning this decision – or the EU's behaviour? This seems to be yet another 'Free Pass' for the EU to take pot-shots at the UK to try and embarrass us on the world stage.

What is now clear is, we should adopt a more aggressive stance in both our dealings with the EU in the future, and the many negotiations to come as we expand our portfolio of trade agreements. Prominently, we have already seen the Government on the verge of losing the messaging battle over the UK-Australia trade deal, and the scare stories we have seen over Australian beef imports.

This fight to maintain the status quo – and label any change as a threat – is not going anywhere. You can be certain this will get even worse when it comes to finalising trade negotiations with countries like the USA!

The Government must learn from their mistakes when dealing with the EU – and continue with the far more reasoned and forthright mentality we have seen in the last week.

If this country is to succeed as Global Britain – and earn greater respect from other countries around the world, as an independent sovereign nation – then we must start to try and control the narrative and explain the reasoning behind our actions. Only by doing so can the Government turn the tide of the Brexit PR battle and ensure we do not end up with a continuous stream of 'Project Fear' narratives from the largely 'establishment' left-wing mainstream media which has been dominating our every move so far.

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Jayne Adye is the Director of the leading cross-Party Eurosceptic campaign Get Britain Out
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